Advice about getting a gcc

[Esmerella]

Hello, I’m thinking about getting a green cheek conure but I have a few questions and I hope you could help answer them

I go out each day for 10 hours leaving about 7 and coming back just after 5 however the last person to leave the house doesn’t go until around 9 - would I be able to leave a GCC alone for this long (with lots of toys, radio...)? I would be able to let the bird out for half an hour or so before I leave and for about 4 hours when I come home, would this work?
I get up around 9 on weekends, would a gcc be able to adjust to a schedule where mornings are early during the working week but later on the weekend?
I know they need about 10 hours sleep, but I’m very bad at getting enough sleep my self and often am still up and about late in the nigh with tv on and such, if the cage is covered would this disturb the bird (tv normally goes off just before 11 but I will probably still be wandering around afterwards)?
Also, how messy do GCCs tend to be, I’m aware you can litter train them, but do they often have accidents and are they messy eaters?
Thank you for any answers or any advice you could give me on owning a gcc

 

[Ali]

@webchirp

 

[Zara]

Welcome to the Avenue Esme

 

[Mizzely]

Birds can adapt to your schedule.

All parrots are messy. It is part of their biology - what they don't eat falls to the ground to feed the tree, or animals that can't reach the fruits that they can. Potty training them is not recommended as some birds will end up holding too long, causing infection or prolapse. That being said, poop is easy to contain if you have several "bird stations". These encourage your bird to hang out in approved areas that they can land and poop.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

Welcome

 

[expressmailtome]

Welcome, and enjoy the site!

 

[webchirp]

Welcome to AA. Shawna has some good answers.

 

[Esmerella]

Birds can adapt to your schedule.

All parrots are messy. It is part of their biology - what they don't eat falls to the ground to feed the tree, or animals that can't reach the fruits that they can. Potty training them is not recommended as some birds will end up holding too long, causing infection or prolapse. That being said, poop is easy to contain if you have several "bird stations". These encourage your bird to hang out in approved areas that they can land and poop.

Thank you for your advice! What you said about them naturally dropping food makes a lot of sense - you can’t really change inbuilt natural instinct so I’ll prepare for mess! And thank you for the “bird stations” idea. Really appreciate the help

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome. Many of us work and successfully keep birds. So, I think the time schedule you have will be okay. I make it a point to get up early to let my birds out before I go to work for a bit, and then when I get home. Sleep is important. I move my birds out of the room where we watch TV at night. I don't know if that's an option for you but my one cockatiel has a sleep cage. So his big cage stays in the living room but i put him in a smaller cage at bedtime and take him upstairs to sleep.

 

[annoellyn]

I have a gcc and she really only poops where she perches which is her feeding trays on her cage, my laptop (her fave hangout) and her big play stand. but they poop anywhere they are standing so thats up to you. Like if I'm walking around with her on her perch stick, she's going to poop. But honestly bird poop is the easiest to do a two second wipe so it's not a big deal.

 

[Shezbug]

Welcome to the Avenue

 

[conureluv]

Hello, I’m thinking about getting a green cheek conure but I have a few questions and I hope you could help answer them

I go out each day for 10 hours leaving about 7 and coming back just after 5 however the last person to leave the house doesn’t go until around 9 - would I be able to leave a GCC alone for this long (with lots of toys, radio...)? I would be able to let the bird out for half an hour or so before I leave and for about 4 hours when I come home, would this work?
I get up around 9 on weekends, would a gcc be able to adjust to a schedule where mornings are early during the working week but later on the weekend?
I know they need about 10 hours sleep, but I’m very bad at getting enough sleep my self and often am still up and about late in the nigh with tv on and such, if the cage is covered would this disturb the bird (tv normally goes off just before 11 but I will probably still be wandering around afterwards)?
Also, how messy do GCCs tend to be, I’m aware you can litter train them, but do they often have accidents and are they messy eaters?
Thank you for any answers or any advice you could give me on owning a gcc

It seems you have the same questions I had when I started getting into the fascinating creatures that are the green cheek conures. You should be able to leave it alone for that long if it is able to have a wide and tall cage (those are best because they fly horizontally) and lots of toys. If you come home on weekends, spend a lot of time with it. Birds can get separation anxiety, so you might want to consider getting two instead, or just loving it over the weekends. Some conures are messy eaters, but to me I don’t see that as a problem. You can potty train them to fly back to the cage if they need to poop, but you don’t have to if you don’t mind a bit of mess occasionally. With the TV stuff, keep it at a low volume and watch it in another room if you can. Good luck!

 

[Ripshod]